Suspect charged in 2 Chevron robberies

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - "It's scary, it really is," Melissa Stearns said. To know that people can be hurt over this little bit of money."

Stearns was working in the Chevron station at University Blvd. and Grelot Rd. when it was robbed early Tuesday morning.

She said that around 12:30 a.m., a man walked into the convenience store at University Boulevard and Grelot Road, and told her he wanted to buy some gas.

Stearns said she asked him how much he wanted to buy.

"He walks behind the counter and pulls his shirt up and said, 'As much as this will get me,'" she said.

Police say 33-year-old Robert McDonald was the man who lifted his shirt.

"The glance I got it looked like the black grip of a pistol," said Stearns.

Stearns said the convenience store owner's son happened to be pumping gas at the time of the robbery. She said she motioned to him as the suspect left the building, and he took off after McDonald.

The store's owner said his son followed the suspect and called the police.

Mobile Police said the suspect crashed his vehicle at University Boulevard and Raines Dr. They say the suspect fled on foot.

Police located him, arrested him and charged him with two counts of first-degree robbery. That's because police believe he is involved in another Chevron convenience store robbery, that one on Rangeline Road.

"The suspect produced a crow bar, demanded money from the cashier," said Ashley Rains with the Mobile Police Department.

Police would not say how much money the suspect took or if any of it was recovered.

Stearns is taking some time off, but plans on going back to work soon. She has replayed the incident over and over in her head and is glad she's alive.

"It took me awhile to go to sleep. It was a very hard night," said Stearns. "I just had to tell my kids I love them because you never know... I could have easily been killed."